Will Saudi Arabia Listen To U.S. Demands For More Oil?

The Trump administration has sent a request to Saudi Arabia for it and the rest of OPEC to boost oil production by 1 million barrels per day (mb/d), according to a Bloomberg report. It wasn’t the first time that the U.S. has asked Saudi Arabia to ratchet up supply in an effort to relieve high prices. Former President George W. Bush pressed the Saudis to increase output in early 2008, just ahead of the historic run up in prices. His pleas, which persisted in the first half of the year as oil prices continued to rise, were rebuffed by Saudi Arabia. A few months later, the financial crisis helped resolve the problem of expensive oil. In 2012, the Obama administration asked Saudi Arabia to increase production after an international coalition slapped sanctions on Iran, which cut down Iranian oil exports by about 1 mb/d. Now, the U.S. finds itself […]